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John 13:1-17  JESUS WASHING THE DIRTY FEET OF HIS DISCIPLES

Introduction:
	
	In our previous text Jesus stopped His public ministry
and went into seclusion with His disciples.  In our text
today He eats the Passover Supper with His disciples and
washed their feet.

I.  Getting the setting of our text

	V. 1, "Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus
knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of
this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were
in the world, he loved them unto the end."  We are not told
how long Jesus spent in seclusion with His disciples, but it
must have been a short period of time -- perhaps a couple of
days.
	Jesus knew that His time here on earth was short.  He
must have been very anxious to return back to heaven to be
with God the Father, whom He loved very much.  Yet, on the
other hand, He dreaded leaving His disciples behind, because
He loved them very much also.  John tells us that He loved
them unto the end.  He must have spent those last days just
pouring out His love upon them.
	There is a technical problem with verse 2.  V. 2, "And
supper being ended..."  The King James version translates
the first part of the verse in a way that indicates that at
this point of time the Passover Supper has ended.  Most
versions of the Bible translates it to read that the supper
was still in progress at this point of time.  This leaves us
to wonder which translation is correct.
	We need look no further than right here in the King
James version to find the answer.  In verse 4 we note that
Jesus arose from the supper and washed the feet of the
disciples.  This indicates that the supper was still in
progress when He arose to wash their feet.   In verse 26 we
note that after washing the feet of the disciples He
returned the table to and continued eating the supper with
His disciples.  He dipped the sop and gave it to Judas
Iscariot.  Therefore we have definite proof that the supper
had not ended at this point.
	There is a perfectly good explanation as to why the King
James Version translated the verse as they did, but it is
technical and it is lengthy.  For that reason, I will not go
into it at this time.
	(V. 2), "...the devil having now put into the heart of
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him."  Satan knew
that the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus.  He wanted
them to kill Jesus.  Therefore, he had planted the idea into
the mind of Judas to betray Jesus into the hands of the
leaders in exchange for money.  The Devil cannot force
people to do wrong, but he most certainly knows how to tempt
people in such a way that they often do just exactly what he
wants them to do.
	Judas was present at the eating of the Passover Supper
and at this time had already planted the idea into the mind
of Judas to betray Jesus into the hands of the Jewish
leaders.
	V. 3, "Jesus knowing that the Father had given all
things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and
went to God."  The time for the crucifixion of Jesus was at
hand, but Jesus was no helpless victim in the hands of the
Jewish leaders.  He knew that the Father had put all things
into His hands.  He was in charge of what was going one.  He
had been sent to this earth from God the Father.  He would
be crucified as the Father had planned for Him to do.  He
would arise from the grave.  Then He would return to heaven
and to God the Father who had sent Him.
	Knowing this was a consolation to Jesus during those
hours prior to His crucifixion.

II.  The washing of the disciples' feet

	V. 4-5, "He riseth from supper, and laid aside his
garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.  After that
he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the
disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith
he was girded."  It was a custom in that day for a host to
have a servant to wash the feet of his guests before serving
a meal to them.  The guests had bathed before leaving their
homes to come to the supper, but as they walked along the
dirt roads wearing sandals their feet would get dirty.
	Therefore, the host would have a servant, a slave, to
wash the feet of his guests before the meal was served.  If
a slave was not available, then a person of lower rank might
volunteer to do the servant's task and wash the feet of the
guests.  If no one volunteered then it became the duty of
the host to wash the feet of the guests.
	In this case Jesus was the host at the Passover Supper
with His disciples and He had no slave to wash the feet of
the disciples.  You will note that instead of washing their
feet before the supper began, He waited until the disciples
were all seated at the table and the supper was under way.
	He had apparently waited for one of the disciples to
volunteer to wash the other's feet.  When it was obvious
that no one would volunteer, then He arose from the table
and prepared to do it Himself.
	We should take a lesson from this.  When there is a
lowly servant's type task to be done and it is something
that we can do, then we should be quick to volunteer for the
job

III.  The objection by Simon Peter

	I do not know whose feet Jesus washed first, but
apparently there was one or more whose feet were washed
before He came to Simon Peter.  By this time Simon Peter had
become belligerent.  V. 6, "Then cometh he to Simon Peter:
and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?"
Simon Peter questioned Jesus in a rather challenging
attitude.  It is obvious that He does not want Jesus to wash
his feet.
	We can give Him this much credit.  His motive was right.
To challenge the Lord in what He was doing was wrong, but at
least his motive was right.  Simon Peter did not feel worthy
for the Lord, the Master, the Christ of God, the One whom He
knew to be the very Son of the Living God, should wash the
feet of a lowly person like himself.
	V. 7, "Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou
knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter."  The answer
Jesus gave is that He would not explain at this time.  Peter
would understand later what was going one.
	But Peter was more belligerent than before.  V. 8,
"Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet..." Now
you can more easily see that Simon Peter was wrong.  Even
though his motive was right, yet his action wrong.  A man,
especially a Christian man, has no business telling the Lord
God what He can and cannot do to Him.  The Christian should
always be submissive to the Master's will.  In fact, any
time any man starts telling God what He can and cannot do,
he is wrong.
	(V. 8), "...Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou
hast no part with me."  Here is another difficult statement.
What did Jesus mean?  He surely could not have meant that
Peter would lose his salvation if he did not allow his feet
to be washed.
	No, He did not mean that Peter would lose his salvation,
but He did mean that Peter would lose his close fellowship
with Jesus by His disobedience.  A child of God does not
lose his salvation by disobedience because salvation does
not depend on his obedience.  But his fellowship with Jesus
does depend of his obedience and he can lose that fellowship
by his disobedience.
	V. 9, "Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet
only, but also my hands and my head."  Simon Peter did not
want to lose his fellowship with Jesus.  He, therefore,
jumped to the wrong conclusion that if allowing Jesus to
wash his feet would help his fellowship with Jesus then what
he wanted was for Jesus to wash more than just his feet.  He
wanted Jesus to wash even to his head and his hands.
	Jesus then explained, or at least partially explained,
the spiritual symbolism of the washing.   V. 10, "Jesus
saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his
feet, but is clean every whit.."  The taking of a complete
bath was symbolic of being saved.  In salvation all of one's
sins are washed away.  When one is washed in the blood of
the Lamb then he is cleansed from every sin.  I John 1: 7
reads, "...the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us
from all sin."  That is the kind of cleansing it takes to
get into heaven.
	But the washing of the feet was symbolic of the saved
person going to the Lord and repenting of one's sins from
his daily walk.  He has already had his spiritual bath which
will get him into heaven, but he needs to be cleansed from
his daily sins in order to maintain his fellowship with
Jesus.

IV. One disciple who had not been cleansed

	In the later part of verse 10 Jesus speaks about that
complete cleansing which the lost sinner must have and
informs the group of disciples that there is one of them who
has never been cleansed.  He has never been saved.  (V.
10), "...and ye are clean, but not all."  All of the
disciples but one had been saved, but this one had never had
the spiritual bath that cleanses from all sin.  He had never
been washed in the blood of the Lamb.
	V. 11, "For he knew who should betray him; therefore
said he, Ye are not all clean."  As you know, He was talking
about Judas Iscariot.  Judas was in the church.  He was an
officer in the church, but he was not saved.  He still
needed to be saved.

V.  The lesson of humility shown by the foot washing

	V. 12-16, "So after he had washed their feet, and had
taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto
them, Know ye what I have done to you?   Ye call me Master
and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.   If I then, your
Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to
wash one another's feet.  For I have given you an example,
that ye should do as I have done to you.  Verily, verily, I
say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord;
neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him."
	Jesus had already spoken to them about the spiritual
symbolism involved in the foot washing.  In these verses He
speaks of the lesson of humility.
	Jesus is Lord of all.  He is Creator God.  He is the
very Son of God.  Yet He humbled Himself to perform the job
of a slave.  He never thought of Himself as being too
exalted to perform the lowly tasks.
	So it should be with the Christian.  The Christian
should not seek those positions that put him in the lime
light to receive great praise from others.  Rather, he
should be willing to do the lowly jobs that will not bring
special attention to himself and bring him the praises of
men.
	Furthermore, Jesus, though He be Lord of all, yet He
rendered service to men.  Christians who will render service
to their fellow men will render service to God.  In fact, it
is impossible to render service to God without rendering
service to one's fellow man.  So one of the main lessons
that Jesus was teaching His disciples is that they should
humble themselves and that they should seek to serve others.
	Then Jesus made a promise.  V. 17, "If ye know these
things, happy are ye if ye do them."  Christians will be
blessed and will find happiness and joy out of knowing and
doing these things.  Yet keep in mind, that it is not merely
by knowing these things.  It is by knowing and doing that
happiness is found.
	
VI.  Suggestions to us today

	The most important suggestion made by this passage of
scripture, in fact the most important thing for all men to
do, is to be washed from every sin.  I am talking about
being washed by the blood of the Lamb of God.  I am talking
about being saved.  This is what it is going to take to get
into heaven.
	The text also suggests that after one is saved he needs
to confess his sins to the Lord and seek forgiveness of
them.  He needs to seek to clean up his life and change his
ways.  This is what it is going to take to maintain good
fellowship with the Lord and have the greater blessings of
the Lord on his life.
	Furthermore, the text suggests that the Christian seek
to humble himself and be willing to serve his fellow man,
even in the lowly acts of service.  This is what it is going
to take to find true happiness and satisfaction in life.

Conclusion:

1.  Have you been washed in the blood of the Lamb?  If not,
	then you need to trust Jesus Christ today and be saved.
2.  If you are saved, do you confess your sins daily and
	seek to get your life right with God.  If not, then
	right now is a good time to start.
3.  Are you an active member of a New Testament church?  If
	not then now would be a good time to take care of that
	matter.